How Do I Get Rid of Phantom or Hidden Devices? — by John Baker (TechNet Blogs archive)

intermediatepageLink only (©)

An archived 2009 post showing how to reveal ghost devices left behind by old hardware: set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 in a Command Prompt, launch Device Manager from it, and enable Show hidden devices. The variable only lasts for that window unless made a system variable. Dated, so verify on current Windows.

Quick steps

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc
View > Show hidden devices

Paraphrased from the source. Menus can differ by version, so check the original for full details.

Read the full article on learn.microsoft.com

Source: How Do I Get Rid of Phantom or Hidden Devices? by John Baker (TechNet Blogs archive). Licence: Link only (©).

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

device managerghost devicestroubleshootingwindows

More in Windows

Manage drive space with Storage Sense — by Microsoft Support

beginnerpage

Shows how to turn on Storage Sense and set how often it runs, how long Recycle Bin and Downloads files are kept, and when unused cloud files go online-only. Also shows removing Previous Windows Installation files under Temporary files.

How to enable long file path names in Windows 11 — by Molly on Microsoft Q&A

intermediateforum

Helpful answer: set the LongPathsEnabled registry value to 1 under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and restart. A commenter points out that the application reading the files may still not support long paths. Registry edit, so back up first.

Set up Windows 11 without internet - oobe\bypassnro — by Johnny55 on Microsoft Q&A

intermediateforum

Community thread from 2022 describing running oobe\bypassnro from Shift+F10 at the network screen to get an I don't have internet option, with a fallback creating a local account via net user and msoobe.exe. This is a community workaround, not Microsoft documentation, and replies report it stopped working on at least one Insider build.